[Easy Step-by-Step Guide] How to Clear Browsing History on Android and iPhone

Clear history on your phone to keep your data private. The search history tracks the recently visited websites, which others can easily see. But another reason for deleting your history is to boost the device's performance. Cache and cookies can create a slower surfing speed or consume too much storage space when piled up. If you wish to quickly clear your history, read further and see the best methods for Android or iPhone.

Clear History Phone

How to Clear Google Search & Chrome History (Android & iOS)

Google processes a vast amount of information to provide quick answers, but it also stores your search queries, signed-in accounts, and activity. While this helps with future logins and personalized results, clearing this data is essential for privacy and device performance.

Clearing Google App Search History

If you use the dedicated Google app for quick searches, follow these steps to manage your history (Find more detailed steps to clear Google history here):

Step 1.
Open the Google app on your smartphone and tap your "profile icon" located in the top right corner.
Step 2.
Select "Search history" to open the activity management page.
Step 3.
To remove specific items, scroll through your recent activity and tap the "X" button next to individual entries.
Step 4.
For bulk deletion, tap the "Delete" dropdown menu. You can choose "Delete today," "Delete custom range" (to set specific dates), or "Delete all time" to clear everything.
Step 5.
Once selected, a "Deletion complete" message will appear.
Google Search Delete History

You can enable the "Auto-delete" feature on this page to automatically remove history older than a set period (e.g., 3, 18, or 36 months).

Clearing Google Chrome Browsing Data

Step 1.
For those who use Chrome as their primary mobile browser, the process focuses on clearing the cache, cookies, and site data:
Step 2.
Launch the Chrome app on your Android or iPhone.
Step 3.
Tap the "three dots" icon (vertical ellipsis on Android, horizontal on iOS) and select "History" from the menu.
Step 4.
Tap the "Clear browsing data" button at the top of the list.
Step 5.
Under the "Time range" menu, choose the period you want to clear, such as "Last hour," "Last 24 hours," or "All time."
Step 6.
Ensure the checkboxes for "Browsing history," "Cookies and site data," and "Cached images and files" are selected.
Step 7.
Tap the "Clear data" button (on Android) or "Clear Browsing Data" (on iOS) to confirm the action.
Google Chrome Clear History

How to Clear Safari Browsing History on iPhone

If you primarily use Safari on your iPhone, you won't find the clear history option within the app's internal menus. Instead, you need to access your device's system settings. Clearing Safari data will remove your history, cookies, and other browsing data from all devices signed into your iCloud account.

Step 1.
Open "Settings" > select “Apps” on your iPhone.
Step 2.
Scroll down the list of applications and tap "Safari" > “Advanced” > “Website Data”.
Step 3.
Scroll down until you find “Remove All Website Data” and tap it to remove now.
Remove All Website Data
Step 4.
Back to the “Safari” screen and locate the "Clear History and Website Data" option and tap it. A menu will appear allowing you to select a "Timeframe". You can choose "Last hour", "Today", "Today and yesterday", or "All history".
Step 5.
Ensure the toggle for "Close All Tabs" is turned on if you want a completely fresh start; otherwise, keep it off to save your open pages.
Step 6.
Tap the "Clear History" button to confirm. The button will turn grey once the process is complete.
Clear Safari History

If you want to browse without saving any history in the first place, open Safari, tap the "Tabs" icon (two overlapping squares), select the "Tab Groups" center button, and choose "Private" to enter Private Browsing Mode.

How to Delete YouTube Search History on Your Phone

YouTube is your go-to platform to watch music videos, tutorials, and short clips for entertainment. Considering clicking many videos in a day, the app will also recommend videos similar to the recent one you have watched. And since YouTube is part of Google, it is guaranteed that it will keep your history, which you have to delete for device or privacy purposes. With that said, here’s how to clear your YouTube history:

Step 1:
Open the YouTube app on your phone and go to your profile icon from the upper right of the interface. Choose the Settings option, then go to the Manage All History menu.
Step 2:
For multiple Google accounts, choose the one with the history you want to delete. Wait for a few seconds until YouTube directs you to the history page. You can simply tap the Delete button to clear your search history on the app.
YouTube Settings Manage All History Delete
Step 3:
If you tap the Saving Your YouTube History menu, you can include other data to erase, such as the videos you have watched, searches, and audio activities. You can also turn off the feature so it will refrain from listing all of your browsing history.
Step 4:
In another case, if you only want to remove one search from YouTube, just tap the Magnifying icon to reveal the recent activity list.
Remove Search History YouTube
Step 5:
Long-press the item with the History icon, then tap the Remove button from the popup. Remember that this deletion will also reflect on the search bar of YT Music.

Bonus: How to Deep Clean Your iPhone to Free Up Storage

Aside from cleaning your phone history, other files might cause a slow process on your device. If you are unsure which data to delete, Aiseesoft iPhone Cleaner is the suggested tool for file management. Its Quick Scan gathers all useless files and takes too much space, allowing the device to speed up once deleted. It scans the duplicates, while you can pick the photos, videos, messages, and data to keep. Of course, it also takes care of the pictures by providing a built-in compressor for lossless compression or export photos to your PC to free more space on your iPhone. Indeed, this is the solution you are looking for.

iPhone Cleaner

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  • Erase app data, cookies, and cache to free up more storage space.
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  • Enriched toolbox for integrating platforms for other uses.
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Step 1:
Download and install Aiseesoft iPhone Cleaner on your device. Complete the installation. Then, launch it and connect your iPhone with a USB cable. Check the phone screen for a prompt, then tap the Trust button to connect successfully.
Aiseesoft iPhone Cleaner Download Connect
Step 2:
The software will show the model unit and other information about the connected device. It also reveals the whole storage size, capacity, and used space. Hit the Quick Scan button to scan the files that are better deleted.
Aiseesoft iPhone Cleaner Quick Scan
Step 3:
Click one of the Erase buttons from the processed categories. The Erase Junk Files menu contains mostly images and iTunes cache, along with invalid, crash log, and temporary downloaded files. Select the files and click the Erase button to erase them from the iPhone.
Aiseesoft iPhone Cleaner Erase Junk Files
Step 4:
Check the Uninstall Applications menu and see the apps that are not used. You can manage the apps with the biggest file sizes, then click the Uninstall button to remove them from your device. Go to Delete Large Files to see data that consume too much storage space.
Aiseesoft iPhone Cleaner Uninstall Application
Step 5:
The Clean Up Photos option offers Backup & Compress or Export & Delete for the pictures. The first option allows you to reduce the file size with quality loss. Meanwhile, the second option will transfer the photos to the PC and delete them from your phone.
Aiseesoft iPhone Cleaner Clean Up Photo

FAQs about Cleaning Phone History

How do you delete incognito history on the phone?

Open the Google Chrome app and enter chrome://net-internals/#dns in the search bar. Tap the Clear Host Cache button to remove the DNS cache. Afterward, close the app and open it again. Your incognito browsing history is clean.

How to check deleted history on a cell phone?

Open the Settings app on your phone and go to the Google menu. Choose the Manage Your Google Account option. Scroll down from the Data & Personalization section and tap the My Activity button. View the search history.

How do I remove something from search results?

You can do this when you tap the search bar from any web browser and app. The list will reveal all the recent searches, then just long-press the item and Remove button or OK button. Ensure the search has the clock icon to delete it from the list.

How often do I need to clean my phone history?

Delete history, cache, and cookies at least once a month. But if you sometimes experience slower speed or crashes when using a web browser or phone, you may need to do this frequently.

What happens when I clear my search history on my phone?

It will boost the browsing speed and protect you from potential harm like hackers or unwanted viruses. Deleting your history also logs you out from the sites you signed in to, and recent activities will not show up from the list.

Conclusion

Digital footprints accumulate quickly, often slowing down your browser and compromising your personal privacy. Whether you are using Chrome on Android or Safari on an iPhone, regularly clearing your phone history, cookies, and cache is the most effective way to keep your device running smoothly and your data secure.

For users who want to go beyond basic browser cleaning, professional tools like "Aiseesoft iPhone Cleaner" offer a deeper solution by removing system junk and managing large files that manual clearing might miss. By making these simple steps a part of your digital routine, you can enjoy a faster, safer, and more private mobile experience.

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iPhone Cleaner can clean up useless data on your device selectively. You can also use it to wipe your private data and keep your iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch fast and safe.

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